Building A Stronger Family

Charles Curry, 61, flashes a cross between a grimace and a grin as trainer Kevin Parrott urges him to do one more lateral pull-down. "Come on 'Big Daddy.' You're No. 1," Parrott urges, standing close.

For months now, Curry and two of his sons, Dwayne, 38, and Charles Jr., 31, have been prepping for bodybuilding competitions with Parrott, 50, a veteran of the sport, at his Xtreme Muscle Gym in Hampton.

At their most recent competition, the North American Sports Federation-sponsored North Carolina Open, all three won or placed in their divisions. "In my 30 years in the business, I've never seen a father and sons on the podium together," says Parrott, who also won his masters division there.

"I love it all, I love it all," says Curry, who retired from public corrections in New York and moved to Hampton with his wife, Margaret, six years ago. Their son Dwayne prompted him to start exercising again.

I used to lift a little but I stopped for 15 years," says the father of eight, grandfather of 19, adding, "I walk a lot, my genetics are good." He started going to the gym 31/2 years ago, but Curry credits his contest success ---- winner of his last three ---- to when he started working out with Parrott 18 months ago. "I thought I was training before, but I didn't realize I wasn't. Just the intensity," he says. To achieve his sculpted look, he works out at the gym for a couple of hours three times a week. Three weeks before a competition he'll step it up to a daily workout, following without question the regimen Parrott sets out.

Charles Jr, who owns the barber shop Illest Cutz in Hampton, just started training with Parrott in September, and came in second in the North Carolina contest, his first ever. "He showed me that all the years I've been working out, I really wasn't. He showed me a lot, bringing out the natural in me," he says, adding that his body fat percentage has dropped from 22 percent to 8 percent.

Parrott notes that Charles Jr. is the one with the greatest natural talent in the family. "He has the perfect X-frame, the broad shoulders coming down to a small waist. Bone-structure-wise he's different. He has the most potential if he chooses to do it," he says. Charles Jr. says he learned from his first outing what he needs to do to win the next time. He has always worked out and enjoys being in shape. "It helps me three ways: it keeps me healthy, it keeps me looking good, and it makes me watch what I eat. And now I've started modeling," he says.

Dwayne started competing in 2005, but has achieved his best result, second place, after just three months training with Parrott. A Hampton resident, married with three children and a job in Norfolk, Dwayne now fits in twice-a-week sessions with Parrott. "My posing and stance on stage are all better thanks to Kevin. His training defined different parts of my body ---- the biggest is leg development," he says.

Tougher than the workouts for all, though, is the strict high-protein diet they follow, which includes repetitive servings of salmon, tuna, chicken, eggs and protein shakes. "I won't kid you. It takes a lot of discipline to live like this," says Parrott. He and his wife, Greta, who also used to compete in shows, don't buy grease, sugar or salt for the house. "We wrote buffets off a long time ago. We just take temptation out of our lives," he says.

However, he encourages his students to treat themselves once a week to get rid of the cravings. "Every once in a while you'll see my car pulling in to Hardee's for a Thickburger," he confesses. For Dwayne, who eats every couple of hours, but typically lunches on a small piece of salmon, 15 raw spinach leaves and four low-sodium crackers, a lean steak with a sweet potato is an indulgence. The same for his younger brother Charles, who says, "I might cheat once in a while, but I love the health part. You feel happy about yourself. You get a lot of compliments."

Parrott attributes his lifetime commitment to diet and exercise to his mother's premature death at age 48 from complications from obesity when he was 13. "I didn't want to go down that road. I decided I could do better," says the Mathews native, who for many years worked as a crane operator at the Newport News shipyard while competing on a national level at bodybuilding contests.

In 1990, when given the opportunity, Parrott opted not to turn pro, turned off by the prevalence of steroid use on the professional bodybuilding circuit. Instead, the next year he opened a gym. Then, three years ago he bought Xtreme Muscle, an established business of more than two decades, where he's the personal trainer for about 20 in addition to half a dozen bodybuilders and a couple of women figure competitors. "It's supposed to be about health," he says, reflecting on the decision. "I would be in California, New York or Florida, and people would be asking my advice." Now, prompted by "Big Daddy" Curry's success, he has started competing again and has won his last two contests. "I'm hoping and praying to inspire others who need it," he says.

LEARN MORE

To see more photos of the Currys and Kevin Parrott, go to dailypress.com/bodybuilders.